Cairns - Australia
7/27/05
After a long flight with a connection in Brisbane we arrived in Cairns at 1 p.m. When the plane approached Cairns and flew over several reefs we had fantastic views of it ...
... sometimes a huge coral reef with just a patch of sand out of the water in the middle of the sea, fantastic.
From the airport we called a couple of cheap accommodation places and found one that included dinner and free pick-up, wow. 20 minutes later, the van arrived and on our way to the hotel, the friendly driver told us about the different sights and activities.
We then headed to the center of Cairns that we imagined much bigger. The city has only 98.000 inhabitants but it has plenty of backpacker hotels (youth hostels) with all kind of activities like sky-diving, rafting, bush-walking, and diving. Cairns also offers the best access to the 7th wonder of the world, the Great Barrier Reef. (Nemo's home)
After wandering around the streets until dark, we walked back to rest from our former night spent in the plane.
7/28/05
Because of the jet-lag and that we did not set up the alarm clock, we ended up waking up too late and thought that the day was going to be a waste, but after a little chat with the woman of the hostel, we found a half-day tour to do.
Our first stop was at Trinity Beach. People laughed at us because almost every one was wearing swimming suits but we had fleeces on. We were feeling too cold because after spending a long time in the very hot and humid Southeast Asia the 24C of Cairns seemed chilli for us. :)
Our second stop was for a short walk in the rainforest through a trail that ends in a nice waterfall.
Since the trail was wet and slippery, our guide advised us to go barefoot. What a terrible mistake we did. The path was full of stones and branches, it was really painful. At the waterfall some people jumped in while we were shivering. We then went for another walk along a river. At one point there was a cliff where from several people jumped. It was quiet scary.
The day finished with a free diner at the most popular backpackers-pub of Cairns, the Woolshed.
Back at the hotel we booked a visit to Frankland islands for the next day.
7/29/05
We left very early and the tour took us the whole day.
The boat left from the Mulgrave River which is more than half an hour away from Cairns. We crossed nice landscapes to get to the mangrove where the tour started.
Once the boat reached the sea, we started to feel sick; it was terrible. We were so happy to finally touch ground in Normandy, one of the five islands of the Frankland Marine Park.
This park holds a lot of sea life like sea turtles, tropical fish and giant clams. The Australian authorities only allow a maximum of 100 people a day to preserve the reef as much as possible.
The reef is considered to be the largest living "thing" in the world with one of the most complex and diverse ecosystems on the planet. Today's living reefs are about 10,000 years old, build by coral polyps on the foundations laid by the ancestors up to 18 millions years ago. They are home to thousands of weird and beautiful marine species. The one in Australia is home to 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish, and 4000 types of mollusk, and believe me, to see all this is much more impressive than its numbers.
We looped the island that is so small that it took us only 45 min to do so. Most of the people fell into the water to snorkel and swim but the two cold passengers :)
The crew served us a nice buffet for lunch with loads of food that was nice too.
After lunch Angie ventured into the water too besides the chilly feeling and snorkeled. At the end of the day we did a guided tour in a semi sub-marine and floated for nearly 20 min above that weird-alien environment while the guide unloaded tons of information about it. The picture below was made through the window of the semi-submarine.
7/30/05
On the 30th we traveled to Melbourne to meet the crazy Frenchman, Flavien, who joined us once more, now for our tour in Australia and stayed with us until the first week in New Zealand.
So, in the morning we just hang around the little swimming pool of the hotel, reading and chatting, before heading at the beginning of the afternoon to the airport.
After a long flight with a connection in Brisbane we arrived in Cairns at 1 p.m. When the plane approached Cairns and flew over several reefs we had fantastic views of it ...
... sometimes a huge coral reef with just a patch of sand out of the water in the middle of the sea, fantastic.
From the airport we called a couple of cheap accommodation places and found one that included dinner and free pick-up, wow. 20 minutes later, the van arrived and on our way to the hotel, the friendly driver told us about the different sights and activities.
We then headed to the center of Cairns that we imagined much bigger. The city has only 98.000 inhabitants but it has plenty of backpacker hotels (youth hostels) with all kind of activities like sky-diving, rafting, bush-walking, and diving. Cairns also offers the best access to the 7th wonder of the world, the Great Barrier Reef. (Nemo's home)
After wandering around the streets until dark, we walked back to rest from our former night spent in the plane.
7/28/05
Because of the jet-lag and that we did not set up the alarm clock, we ended up waking up too late and thought that the day was going to be a waste, but after a little chat with the woman of the hostel, we found a half-day tour to do.
Our first stop was at Trinity Beach. People laughed at us because almost every one was wearing swimming suits but we had fleeces on. We were feeling too cold because after spending a long time in the very hot and humid Southeast Asia the 24C of Cairns seemed chilli for us. :)
Our second stop was for a short walk in the rainforest through a trail that ends in a nice waterfall.
Since the trail was wet and slippery, our guide advised us to go barefoot. What a terrible mistake we did. The path was full of stones and branches, it was really painful. At the waterfall some people jumped in while we were shivering. We then went for another walk along a river. At one point there was a cliff where from several people jumped. It was quiet scary.
The day finished with a free diner at the most popular backpackers-pub of Cairns, the Woolshed.
Back at the hotel we booked a visit to Frankland islands for the next day.
7/29/05
We left very early and the tour took us the whole day.
The boat left from the Mulgrave River which is more than half an hour away from Cairns. We crossed nice landscapes to get to the mangrove where the tour started.
Once the boat reached the sea, we started to feel sick; it was terrible. We were so happy to finally touch ground in Normandy, one of the five islands of the Frankland Marine Park.
This park holds a lot of sea life like sea turtles, tropical fish and giant clams. The Australian authorities only allow a maximum of 100 people a day to preserve the reef as much as possible.
The reef is considered to be the largest living "thing" in the world with one of the most complex and diverse ecosystems on the planet. Today's living reefs are about 10,000 years old, build by coral polyps on the foundations laid by the ancestors up to 18 millions years ago. They are home to thousands of weird and beautiful marine species. The one in Australia is home to 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish, and 4000 types of mollusk, and believe me, to see all this is much more impressive than its numbers.
We looped the island that is so small that it took us only 45 min to do so. Most of the people fell into the water to snorkel and swim but the two cold passengers :)
The crew served us a nice buffet for lunch with loads of food that was nice too.
After lunch Angie ventured into the water too besides the chilly feeling and snorkeled. At the end of the day we did a guided tour in a semi sub-marine and floated for nearly 20 min above that weird-alien environment while the guide unloaded tons of information about it. The picture below was made through the window of the semi-submarine.
7/30/05
On the 30th we traveled to Melbourne to meet the crazy Frenchman, Flavien, who joined us once more, now for our tour in Australia and stayed with us until the first week in New Zealand.
So, in the morning we just hang around the little swimming pool of the hotel, reading and chatting, before heading at the beginning of the afternoon to the airport.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 7:47 AM
1 Comments:
I recently visited Australia and was surprised at the chilly temperatures as well! The pictures you provided are amazing! I find myself wishing I was in Australia right now instead of sitting in my cubicle at work.
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